HC Deb 16 January 1974 vol 867 cc524-5
11. Mr. David Steel

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what percentage of houses built in 1972 was factory-built ; and if he will take steps to encourage the construction industries to make better use of the technique.

Mr. Channon

Twenty-seven per cent. of houses completed in the public sector in 1972 were factory built. I hope that both local authorities and private house builders will consider very carefully how far industrialised building will help to answer their problems. It is, of course, for sponsors to develop and sell their systems.

Mr. Steel

Is it the Government's intention to try to increase that percentage in future? Is that part of Government policy? Does the Minister recognise that, particularly for small housing authorities, a wide range of choice in the design of factory-built houses would be welcomed?

Mr. Channon

That depends on the local authority and on the circumstances of each particular case. I hope that anyone planning a housing development will consider industrialised building, as he would any other possible way of achieving better value for money and getting houses built more quickly. However, it is a more complicated position than that and situations vary very much.

Mr. Arthur Jones

Will my hon. Friend consider the sponsorship of schemes for industrialised building? Is he aware that the lack of this bedevilled arrangements previously when 200 to 300 firms in the United Kingdom, at tremendous cost to themselves, had developed industrialised schemes which did not get off the ground as well as they would have done if the Government—this applies to the previous administration too—had sponsored low-rise industrial development?

Mr. Channon

I will certainly consider what my hon. Friend says. I hope the House realises that a great deal of the economies resulting from industrialised building often arise from the substitution of labour by cheap fuel, and in the present situation it is not absolutely apparent that this would necessarily be right.

Mr. McNamara

How many houses does the 27 per cent. represent?

Mr. Channon

The hon. Gentleman must await the figures on 31st January.

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